Gooderham & Worts Eleven Souls

The aroma is smooth and gentle, starting with orange creamsicle, candied fennel seeds, and vanilla cupcake, then moving to chocolate-covered toasted almonds, with hints of honeysuckle and forest floor. It progresses to canned peaches, dried apricots, and candied lemon peel, transitioning to spearmint, light rye, and a mild black pepper spice, with no alcohol burn. The palate has a medium body, beginning with orange creamsicle that quickly shifts to a moderate peppery rye spice. This spice slowly fades to chocolate-covered toasted marshmallow and almonds, then honeysuckle, light minerality, and forest floor. It continues with canned peaches, dried apricots, and candied lemon peel, before finishing with spearmint, cloves, and a mild black pepper spice, featuring a medium alcohol burn. The finish is medium in length, with notes of charred pine cones, dark chocolate-covered almonds, peaches, spearmint, and a moderate black pepper spice. As a great admirer of Canadian whiskey, I was very keen to explore this blend of 11 different whisky components. The aroma is light and inviting, with soft notes of citrus, rye, nuts, florals, and earthy undertones that carry through to the palate. However, the initial spice is a bit stronger than I prefer, before softening into those delicate notes found in the aroma. The finish emphasizes earthy rye spice with subtle fruitiness. These appear to be priced under $100, but seem difficult to locate now based on a quick online search. If you happen to find a bottle, I highly recommend it as it's an enjoyable one to discover. Thanks to a friend for the generous sample.

A significant quantity of Eleven Souls was procured by Sobey’s for their new store last year, yet it’s not moving here. This particular market seems unwilling to shell out $99 for Canadian whisky, but consumers are missing out. For comparison, The Glenlivet 12 costs around $60 and The Glenlivet 18 is $180 (with $100 CAD equaling $70 USD) in this region. Eleven Souls offers a Canadian take on a Speyside style and surpasses The Glenlivets. While I lean towards peated spirits, Eleven Souls, even at 49% ABV, is more approachable and intricate than a peated whisky. It stands among the finest I've experienced: silky, with notes of fruit, charred oak, brown sugar, honey, and cinnamon. The finish truly steals the spotlight. It gradually develops with heat and spice, lingering extensively. Oaky spice emerges at the edges, spreading across the palate. It’s sweet with a slight dryness, offering more spice than Talisker 10. My sole reservation is that the Gooderham and Worts 49 Wellington might be marginally superior. This isn't a true drawback, but rather an acknowledgement of the exceptional quality of these bottles. Remarkable; Canadian whisky is more than just Crown Royal; this expression is truly distinctive.

I honestly never anticipated spending this much on a Canadian whiskey, but after numerous positive assessments and people recommending it based on my liking for the 4 grain, I decided to try it. The aroma is smooth, typical of many from this country; notes of vanilla, almond, and caramel-covered hay bales are dominant. Despite your best efforts, you won't detect any ethanol. Burying your nose in the glass reveals more sugary notes combined with some vegetation. There's certainly enough complexity to maintain interest. The palate begins with sweetness, then transitions to the rich grainy character suggested by its name. I can't claim to identify all the types of grains present, but it's as if a potluck was held at the distillery, with all the farmers contributing their produce. Smooth wheat, fruity corn, malty barley, and a touch of spicy rye. The grain blend is the highlight and is not concealed. The finish is of medium length and fruity, with stone fruits leading and some dry but not bitter oak providing a finish. Is it worth 110 CAD? Probably not, but is it the finest Canadian I've sampled to date? Yes. It avoids being excessively sweet and genuinely tastes of distilled grain... acquire a bottle if you can.

Damn Canadians. Typically, Canadians are the kindest people. But when it comes to their whiskey, they're keeping all the good stuff to themselves! They have excellent free healthcare, a leader so attractive it might make me question my preferences, and now this?! A friend sent me a sample of this from up the I-80 in NJ. This is genuinely excellent stuff... with an interesting background and composition. It's made using 5 grains, 2 distillation methods, and 2 types of wood. Some combination resulted in eleven distinct whiskeys that were blended together. Eleven was also the number of children the founder had adopted, hence the name Eleven Souls. This is incredibly smooth, with flavors of bright cherries, toasted bread, and almonds... with a subtle rye spice in the background. If you ever visit Canada, this absolutely needs to be on your shopping list. Meanwhile... my neighbor to the north: please stop sending us brands like Canadian Mist, Crown Royal, Seagram’s, and Canadian Club. Send this instead. Thanks to a friend for the sample!

The aroma presents notes of eggnog, waxy honey, sweet cinnamon, creamy vanilla, dried apricots, golden raisins, maraschino cherries, bran cereal, toasted almonds, oak, floral rye grain, candied orange peel, milk chocolate, subtle herbal mint, and soft black licorice. - On the tongue, it's quite substantial and bursting with taste. Caramel corn, floral honey, rye spice, cinnamon, clove, toasted oak, vanilla custard, butter, candied orange peel, cherry lozenges, golden raisins, touches of milk chocolate, and understated mint are present. - The conclusion is opulent and possesses a coating quality, with toasted oak and intricate grains remaining on the palate. — Adding water shifts the fragrance towards more floral and citrus notes, enhances the sweetness and savoriness on the palate, and increases the spice in the finish. —//— Grain Mark: 91 —//— This is an exceedingly intricate whisky. I require significantly more time to completely uncover the spectrum of tastes within this grain combination.

I really liked the 2017 Northern Borders Canadian whisky lineup, so when I visited Toronto for work this week, I made sure to find this bottle, which was considered a top performer from the 2018 series. I’m happy I did. The aroma initially resembles a high-rye bourbon but quickly develops into something more intricate. Layers of cream alternate with the aromatic qualities of fennel and cardamom seeds. The blend of cream and spice persists on the palate, culminating in a lengthy, yeasty finish, reminiscent of a crumpet or Indian appam. It strongly brings to mind the recent Michter's 10 yr rye, and while this one lacks an age statement, it costs three-quarters of that price. Although that's still a high price by Canadian whisky's historical standards, it's difficult to fault the quality. A winner.